Red
by OPrincess ShinigamiO
Summary: "Losing him was blue like I'd never known. Missing him was dark gray all alone. Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you've never met. But loving him was red. Burning red."


**OPrincess ShinigamiO here! **

Okay, so I'm in the sudden mood for a little HitsuKarin love, so voila! You'd better thank chapter 529 for this (if you either haven't read it yet or you did but haven't figured it out yet, then READ AGAIN!) Because of that, I have higher hopes of seeing a canon HitsuKarin come to life! (Not to mention, the approval of *wink* *wink*)

Anyhoo, so this song is also inspired by Taylor Swift's RED. I absolutely love the song, but if this story's gonna make it sound like it stinks, just think of Taylor Swift not being one of Karin's top favorite singers. I can imagine that she's really not her type of genre. I'm not really too polished with making HitsuKarin romances, so please excuse my lack of talent for doing so if you don't enjoy the story. But enough with the negativity! I really do hope you enjoy it! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own HitsuKarin or Taylor Swift or anything else except for the story's plot. Ridiculous, really...

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**RED**

…

"Tadaima!" Karin called out as she stepped into her humble little abode.

No one answered back. Immediately, Karin figured that Yuzu must still be in her dancing club, an interest of which Karin found quite unusual for her, while remembering that her father actually had a doctors' gathering to attend to.

Ichigo, on the other hand, was probably running around Karakura Town to check on random Hollow attacks as usual. Either that or he's lounging around in Soul Society waiting for Rukia to finish her work.

Which means, she has the house all to herself.

Of course, even at seventeen, Karin wasn't the naughty type who would immediately call up her college friends for a party when no one's around. She just wasn't into those social gatherings. She'd rather just invite her good guy friends to a soccer field and play soccer all afternoon. Well, more so one person in particular.

Shaking her thoughts away, she plopped down into the sofa, closing her eyes to clear her mind. Unfortunately, it didn't work as much as she wanted.

It's been three years since she last saw Toushiro Hitsugaya. She was having her last soccer game as a middle-schooler, and he was on a mission with Ichigo to retrieve a very dangerous Hollow. It was great spending time with her favorite playmate and shinigami best friend, but it wasn't until that very day when she realized that something felt wrong, no, different between the both of them. Maybe it was only her imagination, but she swore that something changed in Toushiro's cold, ocean-blue eyes.

"_I won't be seeing you anymore." He mumbled._

_Karin blinked at her white-haired friend. They were sitting under their favorite sakura tree in the park, silently enjoying the view as the burning sun began to settle down. That is, until he spoke solemnly._

"_What the hell's that supposed to mean, shorty?" Karin asked. The young captain flinched at the nickname, but he controlled himself before closing his eyes in thought. At this point the fifteen-year-old living teenager got nervous. If he wasn't going to give some sort of retort to her calling him a "shorty", then this must be really serious._

"What the hell? I shouldn't be so melodramatic." Karin scolded herself, deciding to raid the fridge for some comfort food to distract herself. "It's all in the past now, Karin. Stop torturing yourself like some lovesick bimbo."

Suddenly, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Kicking the fridge shut with one arm around a box of her favorite chocolate ice cream, she reached for her phone and glanced at the caller's name on the screen. It was her twin sister calling.

Raising an eyebrow, Karin clicked the call button and brought the phone to her ear.

"Yuzu?"

"Oh, Karin! Are you home by any chance?" Her sister's bubbly voice entered her ears, accompanied by soft background music and the dance instructor's stern counting.

"Just arrived a minute ago. Why? Is something wrong?" Karin asked as she began searching for the scooping spoon in the drawers.

"Phew, thank goodness! I need a favor! I left my iPod on my desk, and I totally forgot that I really really REALLY need it right now! We're supposed to show our instructor some choreography we made ourselves, and no one else seems to have the song I wanted in their iPods-"

"-And you want me to bring it over there, right?" Karin cut in. It really wasn't that hard to guess whatever her sister wanted.

"Exactly!"

Karin sighed. Well, it wasn't that far anyway. "Alright, alright. Meet you there in five minutes."

"Oh, thank you, Karin!" Yuzu chimed.

"And you'd better be waiting by the entrance. I don't like having to enter that ballet studio and being forced to participate into those stupid pirouettes."

She cringed as she remembered the last time Yuzu forgot something and Karin had to deliver it to her, Yuzu's dance mates crowded all around her and annoyingly tried to recruit her to the club due to their few number of members at the time. It was a horrible experience for her, the things they desperately did to convince her (like trying to strip her clothes off and making her change into flimsy pink tights and leotards. Honestly, that could be considered as rape!), she swore to herself that not once in her life would she ever step into that ballet studio ever again.

Her mood soured even further, she placed her sorry ice cream back to the fridge and headed to her and Yuzu's bedroom upstairs. Entering the room, she spotted the lime green iPod lying on top of Yuzu's school notes.

She picked up the iPod and turned it on. If she was going to be miserable the whole way, she might as well listen to music while at it. Plugging in her earphones, she pressed play without bothering to look at the song playing before tucking the contraption into her pocket and closing her room shut.

"_**Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street."**_

Oh no. Karin quickly knew what song was playing on Yuzu's iPod. For weeks, Yuzu had been obsessed with this song, especially after her breakup with some bastard who kind of cheated on her. Karin tried to suppress the smile forming on her lips. Now _that_ was one great relaxer. That giant punch she gave him still ached her knuckles, but it was well worth it to see his "perfect nose" mangled up because of her. And if that wasn't enough, Ichigo came along and nearly slaughtered him in his sleep. Of course, no one except our family knew about the cause of his suddenly grotesque appearance. Ichigo was in shinigami form, after all.

That'd teach him, and the rest of the guys for that matter, to never mess with her sister.

"_**Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ended so suddenly."**_

Karin froze as she reached the front door. It suddenly reminded her of that last meeting with Toushiro. Locking the door, she began walking slowly as she unconsciously recalled the bittersweet goodbye.

"_**Loving him is like trying to change your mind once you're already flying through the free fall."**_

_Slowly opening his eyes, he looked at Karin with determination hard on his face. "… I've been neglecting my duties."_

"_Toushiro…" Karin whispered, fear suddenly crawling up her stomach. "I know that we've been hanging out a lot lately, but you're here because of your duty right? There's nothing wrong with that!"_

"_My duty here is complete. Your brother and I have captured the Hollow days ago. It's about time I return back to Soul Society and get some paperwork done, which I'm sure would be mountains of them, knowing my lieutenant." He replied, turning his eyes to the beautiful sunset, but not really seeing it._

_Karin frowned. "I know that already! I just don't understand why you're being so dramatic about leaving this time. Aren't you usually excited to leave me?" _

_Toushiro frowned, turning his head to the brunette in confusion. "I've never-… what makes you say that?"_

"_I'm kidding." Karin replied with a straight face. "But seriously, Toushiro. What's up with you? What's going on? You can tell me, y'know. I'm your friend!"_

_Toushiro frowned at her statement, his eyes somewhat laced with hurt and disappointment before turning his head around to avoid meeting Karin's eyes. _

"_Are we… really just friends?"_

_Karin blinked in surprise. This was not something she's been expecting to hear, especially coming from Toushiro. Sure, there were times when she thought he looked incredibly cute and sexy from just wiping his forehead from sweat after a long game to slowly licking with savor a nice big cone of vanilla ice cream during an extremely hot day (wait, what was she thinking?). _

_Her face turned red, and at that moment, she was glad Toushiro's head was turned away from her. She'd never live it down if he knew what she was thinking of._

_But then, why was he bothered with their relationship anyway? Unless… No, it can't be. She may not be an expert when it comes to certain relationships, but when you have a brother that sort of has the same dilemma with his dead girlfriend, you can sort of see where this was going._

"_T-Toushiro…" Karin began. "… are you, by any chance-"_

_Toushiro turned to look at her, his aquamarine eyes shone with worry and uncertainty. _

"… _Are you?"_

"… _I don't know."_

_Karin felt her heart drop a thousand meters. She wasn't even sure of her own feelings just yet. But whether he really felt something for her or not, that's something she wanted to make sure of._

"_**Like the colors in autumn so bright just before they lose it all."**_

"_In any case, I think we should stop seeing each other, just in case." Toushiro added before standing up from the ground. "Who knows what consequences we have to face if we delve deeper into… whatever relationship we have."_

"_Toushiro, you do know about Ichi-nii and Rukia-nee, don't you? I don't think we're doing anything wrong."_

"_Kurosaki, well, your brother, is a different case. He was meant to be a shinigami, and it's obvious he won't be happy for as long as he stays here without Kuchiki, or at least a remnant of Soul Society. You, on the other hand, are not a shinigami. You may be able to see ghosts, and your spiritual abilities are strong for a living being. But you have a life here. You can't waste this gift by just wishing to become part of the dead, you have plenty of time for that when your passing comes."_

"_Thanks for the lecture, wise guy. But I think I can make my own decisions, thank you." Karin grilled back. He may be right about her brother, but that doesn't mean she can't make a stupid life-changing decision for herself either if it makes her happy._

"_Karin, I'm serious." He said, ruffling his snow-white hair in frustration. "If we keep this relationship going on… I don't want you to spend your life wishing I were alive."_

"_Why? Because you think I might fall in love with you?" Karin stood up in anger, impatience getting the best of her. For a second, the usually indifferent captain looked visibly hurt and offended at her accusation, but quickly came to his senses and plastered back his cold and stern expression before turning to walk away from her for good. _

"_Because I think I'm the only one who might get hurt." He mumbled lowly to himself, but not without Karin's acute hearing senses catching them._

_Karin was speechless, her anger slowly ebbing away. So her senses were right. He was in love with her. And the worst part was that he thought he was the only one who felt that way._

"… _Toushiro.."_

"_I'll see you around." He said frostily, quickly disappearing into a shunpo before Karin could say anything else. And at that, Karin knew that it'd be a very long time before they'll see each other around, maybe even never._

_The sky was completely devoid of the sun's traces when Karin was left alone under the sakura tree._

"_**Losing him was blue like I'd never known. Missing him was dark gray all alone."**_

"Yep, that describes my feelings just right. I guess Taylor Swift could be a little talented after all." Karin muttered to herself as she came back to her senses. "Stupid, stupid shorty idiot."

"_**Forgetting him was trying to know somebody you've never met."**_

"_**But loving him was red."**_

Karin sighed as she took off her earphones. Listening any more was getting depressing. It's been so long since she last saw the white-haired shorty, but she just couldn't help the nagging feeling of guilt in her gut. A few weeks after that incident, a sullen Ichigo told her that for some reason, Toushiro got a bit crankier than usual, avoiding Ichigo like a plague and freezing his ass on the ground whenever the strawberry tried to ask what's wrong. Of course, this made his brunette sister guiltier, since her idiot of a brother had absolutely no idea about their argument. He knew they were friends, yes, but never thought of it going to a higher extent. Therefore, Karin thought that maybe asking Ichigo to tell Toushiro that she's sorry for hurting him wouldn't be such a good idea. When Toushiro is in an extremely bad mood, it's difficult to get a nice sane talk with him. Not to mention, the breaking point of Ichigo's overprotectiveness.

If she had said anything about how she felt for him before the inevitable happened, would he still leave her? Would he still be too cowardly to try to do anything about it? Heck, would she be able to bear with it?

To hell with everyone else's opinions! Karin Kurosaki was in love with Toushiro Hitsugaya. If she wasn't she wouldn't be wasting her time thinking of what might've been when she's supposed to forget and move on already. And she really really REALLY missed him that badly.

"KARIN! OVER HERE!"

Karin blinked as she heard her familiar sister's cheery voice. Looking around, she realized that she was already near her sister's dance studio. Right in front of the entrance, her gleeful sister, who was already donning powder pink tights and leotards, waved at her brunette counterpart.

"Thank goodness! You're just in time! Still three calls away before I'm up!" Yuzu said as Karin handed her her iPod.

"No problem. I wasn't doing much anyway. I needed a walk before I start getting any fatter." Karin shrugged.

Yuzu pouted. "Karin! You are NOT fat!"

"I'm just kidding, Yuzu."

"Of course you are." Yuzu grinned as she pulled her sister into a hug. "Wish me luck! If anything, I could be promoted and could actually be paid if things turned out well!"

"That's great to hear. Good luck then." Karin hugged back, plastering a reassuring smile to keep her sister's hopes up. At least one of them should be happy.

After waving goodbye, Karin slowly began to make her way home. Yuzu gave one last wave and turned to get back inside. Turning her iPod on, her eyebrows lifted slightly as she saw the song paused on the screen.

"Red from Taylor Swift? I didn't know Karin was a fan…"

….

"_**Remembering him comes in flashbacks and echoes. Tell myself it's time now, gotta let go. But moving on from him is impossible when I still see it all in my head. Burning red."**_

"Oh God. Please don't tell me it's an LSS…" Karin muttered as she shook her head from remembering the dreadfully depressing song. But she had to admit; it shot her at the exact spot where it'd hurt the most.

She was on her way home when she spotted the park where she and Toushiro used to hang out most of the time when he used to visit her. Before she unknowingly broke his heart, and in the process, broke her own heart as well.

"Well, it's been too long, really…"

Karin shrugged before deciding to visit her old friend. After dodging a few overexcited children in the playground, she finally found the same old sakura tree that provided her shade and comfort whenever she felt exhausted or lonely. She always knew which one to find, because it was the only one standing at the very corner where the park's most silent. Not to mention, the tiny silver frostiness Toushiro permanently embalmed on the branches to claim as theirs. Luckily, this tree didn't seem to mind the cold, which was why Karin and Toushiro loved it so much. But then, maybe that's why its sakura petals don't bloom as beautifully as the others. Nevertheless, Karin found comfort as she slid down the familiar tree, closing her eyes to feel the cool air around her. Its air was always cooler than the rest, which was why a lot of people avoid it unless it happened to be extremely hot and crowded. But Karin always relaxed whenever she felt the cold breeze wash her face. It reminded her of the times when she used to laugh and joke so freely without a care in the world. It reminded her of the comfortable silence whenever they felt no need to speak to feel closer to each other. It reminded her of the captivating blue eyes that may look cold and uncaring, but was actually warming her inside out with the hidden fire burning inside.

Unfortunately, the only person who could ever make her feel that way was gone from her life for good.

Karin sighed softly. She'll have to try harder to forget the white-haired captain.

"You idiot. This is all your doing." Karin smiled slightly as she crushed the grass under her with her fingers. "Just you wait till I see you again. I am soooo gonna kill you for making me suffer."

To make a point, she threw the tiny scraps of grass in the air. Sighing, she watched as the poor pieces fluttered slowly to the ground.

"You've been sighing a lot. Something must be up." A cool husky voice suddenly spoke above her.

Caught off-guard, Karin yelped and sat up straight. Before she could process anything, a boy with familiar snow-white hair suddenly jumped down in front of her. As the shiny blue orbs pierced into her dark onyx ones, the brunette froze as she sank in the image of the boy kneeling in front of her.

It was none other than the subject of her anger himself.

"Y-you… y-y-you!" she hissed, slowly pointing a shaking finger at him. "That … was so uncalled for!"

"I apologize if I scared you." Toushiro smirked, his bright eyes sparkling with hidden mischief.

Karin's temper flared. "Scared? SCARED?! You are so DAMN right, Toushiro Hitsugaya! In fact, I'm downright FURIOUS!" To this, she crushed more grass into her hands and threw them at Hyourinmaru's master.

"You leave me without even hearing my reply! You don't contact me at all for the last three years! You left me to suffer the guilt you made me feel! Heck, you even made Ichi-nii suffer for our faults!"

Toushiro caught both her hands, effectively stopping her from venting more of her frustration. Unflinching, he forced the headstrong Kurosaki to look him straight in the eye.

"Karin, do you love me?"

Once again, Toushiro's question has rendered Karin speechless.

"… I-I.. I- W-wait just a second! What are you talking about?!" she blubbered in shock. "Weren't you just spouting excuses about the impossibility of us getting together three years ago? And now you suddenly pop up from thin air and actually encouraging me to-"

"Just answer it, Karin." Toushiro sighed.

Karin bit her tongue. It was all so sudden, she had almost forgotten about all those years of guilt she had to endure because of him. It was as if someone turned back time and placed her in this same position of which she couldn't easily pass. She didn't know whether she should feel thankful or mystified.

And suddenly, she remembered everything. When losing him was blue like she never knew, and missing him was dark gray all alone. And forgetting him was as impossible as trying to know somebody you've never met.

And at that moment, her feelings finally bursted, and everything went red.

"Yes. I … l do." She said in a soft whisper.

It took several blinks from Toushiro to realize that he wasn't imagining things. The corner of his lips lifted, his aqua eyes sparkling with hope Karin's never noticed before.

"You… love me? I mean, you're not lying out of pity for me right?" he asked with a slight pout.

To this, Karin began to smirk. "Don't make me repeat that again, shorty. I'm not letting you through just yet. But yeah, it's tru-uah!"

Karin yelped as she was suddenly pulled into a warm yet cooling embrace. It felt so wrong to allow this to happen, obviously because they're not from the same worlds. But somehow, being wrapped up in his embrace felt perfectly right. As if they were two complicated pieces of a puzzle meant to complete each other.

And that wondrous careless feeling she yearned for was finally coming back. Except better.

"So… what now?" Karin asked after they finally pulled apart, clutching tightly each others' hands. Toushiro sighed, resting his forehead on hers and breathing in her scent. And then, he smiled.

"I guess we'll have to wing it. I'm sorry for the painful wait, but I promise you that I won't disappoint you this time. I won't let anything else get in our way."

"Even my growing up here? Even when I'm all old and wrinkly while you're still stuck in your shorty phase?"

Toushiro's eyebrows knitted together. "I'd hate to think about the future. But whatever happens, I figured that it's better that I try working this out with you right now than carrying this heavy regret with me for the rest of my life."

"Hmm, alright then." Karin grinned, wrapping her arms around her best-friend-turned-boyfriend. "We'll think about it when the time comes. If Ichi-nii and Rukia-nee can make it, we can do better."

To that, Toushiro gave a tiny chuckle, pulling the Kurosaki closer into his embrace. "I really hope so."

At that moment, the burning sun slowly began to set and the petals of the sakura trees slowly began to bloom as the new couple held each other with no care of the world.

"_**And that's why he's spinning round in my head and comes back to me burning red."**_

"_**Cause loving him was red. We're burning red."**_

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Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and tell me what you think if you have the time! :)


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